Network+ Materials

Category 1: Copper Cabling Specs (Cat Ratings)

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Cat 5

Max speed 100 Mbps | Max distance 100 meters | Frequency 100 MHz

Cat 5e

Max speed 1 Gbps | Max distance 100 meters | Frequency 100 MHz (Introduced reduced crosstalk)

Cat 6

Max speed 1 Gbps (up to 100m) OR 10 Gbps (up to 55 meters only) | Frequency 250 MHz

Cat 6a

Max speed 10 Gbps | Max distance 100 meters | Frequency 500 MHz (The "a" stands for augmented)

Category 2: Fiber Optic Media Specs (SMF vs. MMF)

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Single-Mode Fiber (SMF)

Light Source: Laser | Core Size: Very narrow (~8.3 to 10 microns) | Distance: Extremely long | Use Cases: WANs, campus-to-campus, and telecommunications.

Multi-Mode Fiber (MMF)

Light Source: LED/Laser | Core Size: Wider (allows multiple paths of light) | Distance: Short (up to 550 meters) | Use Cases: LANs, server rooms, and datacenters.

Category 3: Ethernet Standards (IEEE 802.3)

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100BASE-TX

(Twisted-pair / Fast X-ethernet) Fast Ethernet | Copper | 100m | 100 Mbps

100BASE-FX

(Fiber / Fast X-ethernet) Fast Ethernet | Multi-mode Fiber | 2 km | 100 Mbps

1000BASE-T

(Twisted-pair) Gigabit Ethernet | Copper | 100m | 1 Gbps

1000BASE-SX

(Short-range / Gigabit X-coding) Gigabit Fiber | Multi-mode Fiber | 550m | 1 Gbps

1000BASE-LX

(Long-range / Gigabit X-coding) Gigabit Fiber | Single-mode Fiber (up to 5 km) or Multi-mode Fiber (up to 550m) | 1 Gbps

10GBASE-T

(Twisted-pair): 10-Gigabit Copper | Copper | 100m (Cat 6a) or 55m (Cat 6) | 10 Gbps

10GBASE-SR

(Short-range / 10G R-framing) 10-Gigabit Fiber | Multi-mode Fiber | 400m | 10 Gbps

10GBASE-LR

(Long-range / 10G R-framing) 10-Gigabit Fiber | Single-mode Fiber | 10 km | 10 Gbps

Category 4: Power over Ethernet (PoE) Standards

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IEEE 802.3af

(average floor) PoE | Supplies up to 15.4 Watts at the source.

IEEE 802.3at

(average twice) PoE+ | Supplies up to 30 Watts at the source.

IEEE 802.3bt (Type 3)

(better trice) PoE++ / Type 3 | Supplies up to 60 Watts at the source.

IEEE 802.3bt (Type 4)

(best trice) PoE++ / Type 4 | Supplies up to 100 Watts at the source.

Category 5: Wireless Standards (IEEE 802.11)

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802.11h

(help not lose connection) Operates on 5 GHz | Speeds up to 54 Mbps | Introduced DFS and TPC to comply with European regulatory requirements and avoid radar interference.

802.11n

(new for old people Wi-Fi 4) Operates on both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz | Speeds up to 600 Mbps | Introduced MIMO.

802.11ac

(always cooking Wi-Fi 5) Operates on 5 GHz only | Speeds up to 6.9 Gbps | Introduced MU-MIMO (downlink).

802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6)

(always xing Wi-Fi 6) Operates on both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz | Speeds up to 9.6 Gbps | Introduced OFDMA for better density handling.

802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6E)

(anywhere xing even better Wi-Fi 6E) Operates on 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz | Speeds up to 9.6 Gbps | The 6 GHz band is the key differentiator.

Category 6: Switching & VLAN Standards (IEEE 802.1)

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802.1Q

(Q Tagging) VLAN Trunking / Tagging.

802.1X

(X for Access) Port-Based Network Access Control (Security/Authentication).

802.1D

(D for Day long) Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) to prevent switching loops.

802.1w

(W for Way Faster) Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol (RSTP) for faster loop-prevention recovery.